Second-line AIADMK leaders and cadres alike say that by starting the talks first with the BJP and committing the party to an alliance without discussing seat-sharing, the leadership might have commenced the coalition discourse at the wrong end. According to them, even 20 seats for the BJP may be too many, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Pakistan piled up 452 runs and reduced West Indies to 106 for four to take control of the second Test in Abu Dhabi on the second day on Saturday.
An eight-wicket haul from West Indies' Devendra Bishoo breathed fresh life into the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, leaving his side with a faint chance of pulling off the unlikeliest of wins in the day-night contest.
In Maharashtra, Modi said that a chief minister has completed full term for the first time in 50 years and added that political stability is a must for an economically important state like it.
Political watchers believe that there is little denying the loss of face the party has suffered in its bid to rule India's richest state.
Some players have already raised prices; others in wait-and-watch mode.
The BJP in the last few years lost a major ally like Telugu Desam Party but also gained a big regional partner like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and several smaller allies in northeastern states.
The three Independent MLAs who have announced their support to the BJP are Geeta Jain, Rajendra Raut and Ravi Rana.
Decreasing the height of Shivaji's statue to make Sardar Patel's statue look taller is 'narrow and distorted mindset', the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar also ruled out any alliance with the Sena.
Devendra Jhajharia, on Tuesday became the first para athlete to receive India's highest sporting honour -- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- along with hockey star Sardar Singh, who has endured trying times off the field in the last one year.
'They are trying to lure our MLAs and that is why we are taking precautions.'
The 36-year-old Jhajharia, who is the first Indian to win two Paralympic gold medals, was the first choice of the awards selection committee.
From an obscure corporator to becoming the youngest Mayor of Nagpur, to the first Bharatiya Janata Party Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis' climb up the political ladder has been steady.
Shah said the 'friendship' between Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the deal, and Congress' top leadership is 'time tested and deep'.
Hundreds of Muslims chanted Bharat Mata Ki Jai and unfurled the national flag, in a historic gesture that will only strengthen the country's religious fabric.
150 BJP elected local representatives in Beed resign in protest against Pritam Munde's exclusion from the Union ministry.
Sources from both parties said back channel talks are on between the two old but often-feuding Hindutva allies and a breakthrough is expected.
Yasir Shah proved Pakistan's match-winner as they ended a six-Test losing streak to beat West Indies by seven wickets in the first Test in Jamaica on Tuesday.
Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Santosh Gangwar, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, BJP national general-secretary Arun Singh and party MP Maneka Gandhi also visited the hospital to know about his wellbeing.
Younis, who became the first Pakistan player to complete 10,000 Test runs, made 58 while Azam stroked 72 in dominating a 131-run third-wicket partnership which gave the tourists an upper hand into the final session of the day.
"If we had the numbers, we wouldn't have waited for anyone. The Congress and the NCP didn't cross the 100 mark...we will work as a responsible opposition," Pawar said.
There are limitations to milking national security, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
In a statement after the apex court verdict, Thackeray said, "With folded hands, we request the prime minister and the president to take an immediate decision on Maratha quota."
He is now the first non-Congress chief minister to win a second term in office in the state, seen as a Congress bastion until just five years ago.
The BJP has been inducting leaders from the NCP and the Congress since the last few months to expand its footprint in the regions where the party lacks organisational base.
Does Uddhav (and indeed the Sena) have the pizzazz and staying power to continue to be an actor in Maharashtra politics as a paler version of the NCP and an orange rather than saffron version of the BJP, asks Aditi Phadnis.
Notwithstanding the recent bickering between the former allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced that it will start afresh talks with Shiv Sena on the issue of the latter's joining the four-week-old government in Maharashtra.
Devendra Joshi and Dhruv Sitwala scored fluent back-to-back wins while Rupesh Shah suffered defeat against Englishman Mike Russell on the opening day of the Time-Format event in the IBSF-DY Patil Vidyapeeth World Billiards Championship in Pune on Tuesday.
'The Shiv Sena as a party was going nowhere.' 'Now Uddhav Thackeray has shown his partymen that he can take the BJP head on.'
The Shiv Sena has a message for Maharashtra's new chief minister as he takes charge on Saturday.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday accepted the resignation of Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution, Raosaheb Dadarao Danve, from the Union Council of Ministers.
"Be it Delhi or Maharashtra, the atmosphere should be fear-free. It is the responsibility of the rulers to create such an atmosphere that those in public life can work fearlessly. There is no objection to withdrawing the security cover when such atmosphere prevails," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
While the ruling party alleged an "invisible hand" behind the petitions, the opposition accused it of making "false political capital" by "misinterpreting" the apex court order.
'It must have stung Devendra Fadnavis to see Modi asking MPs at the BJP parliamentary party meeting to give Yediyurappa a standing ovation for his victory in the by-elections that has resulted in pulling the BJP government in Karnataka off the ventilator,' notes Aditi Phadnis.
Given the controversy over Uttar Pradesh's population control moves, Hemant Shivsaran/Rediff.com digs deep to find out how many children BJP MLAs in UP have.
Amid a plethora of senior party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party's Devendra Fadnavis took the oath of office at a mega function organised at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
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'Over the years he has been getting a feeling of being sidelined by his uncle.'